STORIES OF A FILIPINO WAR HERO LAUNCHES ANEW
“I want to write a book. I want to write what really happened in Bataan.” These are the words remembered by Ms. Ma. Elisela R. Vitriolo when his father, Eliseo D. Rio Sr., decided to write his personal recollections as a young soldier during World War II.
“Rays of a Setting Sun: Recollections of World War II” is the title of the book authored by Col. Eliseo D. Rio Sr., a Filipino freedom fighter who witnessed the turbulence of wartime in the Philippines and survived the gruesome ordeal of the Bataan Death March. This book was originally published in 1999 but undergone editing to reach a wider audience and continue its purpose of providing the Filipinos a primary source of important events in our history.
The relaunching of the book was held last April 5, 2016 at AFP Commissioned Officers Club House, Camp General Emilio Aguinaldo, Quezon City. Attended by the Rio clan and close friends, the occasion served also as a tribute to the heroic past lived by Col. Rio himself.
The event was graced by several public figures from different industries who shared messages about the importance of the book in propagating heroic accounts of Filipinos during the war. Lt. Gen. Ernesto G. Carolina, AFP (Ret), PVAO Administrator, delivered a short message. “PVAO is in the business of propagating heroic deeds of our veterans. Col. Rio’s book is a valuable addition in this patriotic effort,” Carolina said.
Among the attendees of the event include Col. Vicente F. Alhambra Sr., one of two living members of PMA class 1942 and the oldest living PMA alumnus; Mr. Alejandro D. Padilla, former Editor-in-Chief, DLSU Press and Senior Editor/Managerial Consultant for Higher Education of C & E Publishing, Inc. who gave an impression of the author; Dr. Benito J. Legarda, Jr., an economist, historian and author who shared an impression of the book; Chairperson Maria Serena Diokno of the National Historical Commission of the Philippines; and Former Finance Secretary Roberto or “Bobby” F. de Ocampo, Chairman of the Philippine Veterans Bank, who delivered a keynote message in the event.
Col. Rio belonged to the Philippine Military Academy as a member of Class 1942 when the war broke out. He was among the cadets who were commissioned as third lieutenant assigned in the 1st Regular Division of the Philippine Army as the Aide-de-Camp to BGen Fidel Segundo, the Division Commander. His unit was able to inflict heavy casualty of over a thousand on the attacking Japanese troops in the Battle of the Pockets. He escaped from the atrocities of the Death March and became a battalion commander of the 6th Military District in Panay Island, his homeland from 1942-1945. After the war, he rejoined the Philippine Army in 1945 but was reassigned to the Philippine Military Academy in 1951 and served as the Head of the Department of Natural Sciences from 1951 to 1968.
Col. Rio was also posthumously awarded during the Tribute to All Filipino Heroes in Corregidor Island last April 7, 2016, as part of the observance of the 2016 Philippine Veterans Week and 74th Araw ng Kagitingan.
A. Hermosa
See Stories of a Filipino War Hero Launches Anew posted by the Philippine Veterans Affairs Office.
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